Chromatin remodeling complexes are molecular machines capable of altering the structure of genomic DNA in profound ways that can lead to global changes in gene expression. My laboratory focuses on understanding how these molecular remodelers work in concert with DNA- and histone-modifying enzymes to regulate cell growth and proliferation. More specifically, my group investigates how aberrations in expression and recruitment of chromatin remodelers and epigenetic modifiers contribute to cancer etiology. Recent advances in the field of chromatin have shown that epigenetic modification of chromatin plays a central role in the way cells integrate signals and communicate with their environment. It has also become abundantly clear that various diseases exhibit changes in expression and/or targeting of chromatin-modifying enzymes. Thus, a major challenge in understanding and diagnosing various forms of cancers and diseases that affect metabolic pathways is to identify relevant chromatin changes and to devise tools to re-establish and maintain normal patterns of gene expression in diseased cells.